I know, the title is a mouthful. But so is this cake. A delicious mouthful.

We made a ton of applesauce this year and I had a chance to play around with the extra we didn’t can. This recipe came about after finding a few different variations in recipe boxes and cookbooks. In the first attempts I didn’t soak the raisins but after the idea crossed my path and I figured I’d give it a go. I was a little hesitant because my mother cautioned me that the rum could overpower the apple taste. But it turned out wonderful with a little rum flavor in the raisins plus the apple taste and the spices—it all balanced very well.

Rum Soaked Raisin Applesauce Spice Cake
Time: overnight soaking for raisins, prep time and then 45-60 minutes baking time
Makes: 2 small loaves

A couple notes before we get started:
-I used rum this time because it what we had on hand but I’m sure you could experiment with other liquor. If alcohol isn’t your thing, apple or fruit juice would work too.
-I discarded the extra rum but if you want you can add a little to the batter. But be careful because it might overpower the apple and spices.
-Since we have a vegan in the house I used soy butter and an egg substitute. It tasted great, so just imagine how it’d taste with a real egg and real butter!
-We use this brand of egg substitute but I’ve had success in other recipes with 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water.
-The spices are customizable depending on your taste. I used 1/4 teaspoon of each. In my opinion ground clove is strong so I wouldn’t increase that too much more but hey, if cloves are your thing, have at it!

Ingredients
1 cup raisins soaked in rum

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of any (or all) of these ground spices: nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup salted butter (if you use unsalted add about 1/4 teaspoon salt)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg (or egg substitute)
1 cup applesauce
handful chopped walnuts (optional)

powdered sugar and little water (optional, for a sugar drizzle)

Instructions:
Start by soaking your raisins in rum, overnight. For my one cup of raisins I used about 1/2 cup dark rum but ideally you want to submerge the raisins fully. (Like I said earlier, I was making do with what we had.)

After you’ve soaked your raisins, preheat oven to 350 F.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

In a mixer, beat together butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy.

Add beaten egg or egg replacer (mixed up in separate bowl until frothy and fully dissolved) and beat some more.

With the mixer on the lowest setting, add the flour and applesauce in batches, alternating back and forth between the two.

Drain raisins and fold them into the batter.

Spoon into two greased loaf pans. (You could spread it out in a glass cake dish. Just don’t cram it all into a small dish because you want to have it bake fully and evenly. Whatever dish or dishes you are using should be no more than half-full.)

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

If you’d like to pretty it up for guests, you can dust with a little powdered sugar or drizzle a little sugar water over it. I think I used a couple tablespoons powdered sugar and a few drips of water. A little goes a long way. Just keep adding a few more dibbles of water more until you have the desired runny icing consistency.

You can also treat it like a bread. My Dad enjoys it this way, with a slather of butter on top.

And! I’ve also used this batter as a dough to make cookies. Obviously it makes for cakey, soft cookies. Spoon heaping tablespoons on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 350F. When they are browning on the bottom and sides but still soft in the middle, they are done.

Printable Google Document for this recipe can be found here.
Or a text only printable here.

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